Within hours of the arraignment, the Securities Regulation Bureau, released a report that Skaltsis' total debts, between prior investments, secured deals, personal loans, partnership deals, a defaulted mortgage and the judgment against him brings his total debts to more than $1.2 million.

Skaltsis, 62, of 6 Erik Drive, along with firms associated with him — Phoenix Asset Group, Inc., Liberty Realty Trust and Tobias Investment — have been under an intensive investigation, according to the Securities Regulation Bureau, since August 2012, by the AG's office, the Bureau and the Dover Police Department.

The Bureau alleges that Skaltsis engaged in unlicensed activity, sold unregistered securities, and committed securities fraud. The Bureau's administrative action filed today includes a request that Skaltsis, Liberty Realty Trust, and Phoenix Asset Group, Inc. pay restitution to investors, pay the costs of the bureau's investigation, pay an administrative fine, and be permanently barred from conducting securities-related business in New Hampshire.

In addition to the bureau's administrative action, the bureau has obtained an order from Strafford County Superior Court Justice Brian Tucker freezing the assets of Skaltsis, Liberty Realty Trust, Phoenix Asset Group, Inc. and other parties restraining them from converting, sequestering, transferring, selling or suffering the loss of any assets under their control.

The Securities Regulation Bureau said Skaltsis has been operating a Ponzi scheme.

They discovered the investors' checks were deposited into Skaltsis' personal People's United Bank and Citizens Bank accounts, despite promissory notes to investors being issued by Liberty Realty Trust.

Approximately $250,000 in cash withdrawals were made from the People's United Bank account from March 2010 to October 2012. At the same time, approximately $117,000 was transferred from this account to Phoenix Asset Group's Bank of America account.

By Oct. 10, 2012, the People's United Bank account was negative $1.33.

The Bureau has found 13 known investors who were promised as much as 14 percent interest on their money, which they were told by Skaltsis was going into acquiring, rehabilitating and managing real estate in Strafford County.

Instead, within a week of receiving an investor's check throughout 2011 and 2012 Skaltsis would deposit the money into his personal account and deplete it through a cash withdrawal or check to himself. The Bureau states money was also sent to Phoenix Asset Group's Bank of America account, where monthly interest payments to investors were drawn from.

As reported by Foster's and now identified through the bureau by Senior Auditor William Masuck who reviewed Skaltsis' banking records, investor money was often used to pay Skaltsis' prior investors or other personal debts.

A press release from the bureau details how some of the investors' money was spent. Investor Number 1, for example, from Dover, invested $15,000. Bank records reveal his money was deposited into Skaltsis' personal People's United Bank account. Before the money was deposited, Skaltsis' bank account was sitting at $2.23. Approximately $12,000 of Investor Number 1's $15,000 was placed in Phoenix Asset Group's bank account and given to Skaltsis' wife, Lorraine. The Bureau said personal purchases were also made with this money at Hannaford, Shaw's, TJ Maxx and Walgreens.

Although Senior Assistant Attorney General Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau James T. Boffetti could not comment specifically on this case, he did explain how money trails are confirmed.

“Generally, we have forensic accountants and people who are trained to track financial records,” Boffetti said. “We rely on their expertise to examine bank records and other financial records and we have done that in this case.”

Although the Bureau was able to track some of the investors' money, there are instances where the money has yet to be found, supporting reports the investigation is ongoing.

As stated in the press release, “At this time, the Bureau has been unable to locate where Investor Number 2's second $30,000 check was deposited. The Bureau has no reason to believe the funds were used for the purchase or rehabilitation of property.”

The total amount of loss to those investors identified in the 19 charges is alleged to be $287,000.

The Bureau also identified $14,000 in principal owed to two of the four people who gave personal loans to Skaltsis. One of the four loans was as recent at October 2012.

“The Bureau has also learned that Skaltsis solicited individuals for real estate partnerships in the past few years,” the Bureau's release states. “One individual claims that Skaltsis still owes him $51,250 for a past real estate partnership where the individual provided Skaltsis with $51,250 to rehabilitate a property they co-owned and Skaltsis just walked with the funds and never even began the renovations.”

When the Bureau conducted a review of the Registry of Deeds in the county under Skaltsis, Skaltsis' wife and Liberty, Phoenix and Tobias, no property purchases or recording of title or deed by Skaltsis in 2011 or 2012 appeared. During these years, Skaltsis raised at least $327,500 in investor funds.

Additionally, the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision, according to the Bureau, for Skaltsis to pay $703,504.99 on an unpaid promissory note from 1990. Skaltsis was ordered by Strafford County Superior Court on March 22, 2011 to pay $1,200 per month toward this debt. He has not made every payment and many of them have been late.

The Bureau also stated, “A review of Skaltsis' bank records revealed that he was making payments on this judgment from monies received from the investors identified above.”

“The use of new monies to pay old debts, the commingling of investor funds in a personal account with other investors funds, the conversion of investor checks to cash, and the evidence that Skaltsis convinced some investors to rollover their funds so he wouldn't have to return their principals, are all hallmarks of a Ponzi Scheme,” the bureau stated. “Coupled with the fact that Skaltsis was heavily in debt and that very little to no business activity occurred while Skaltsis was raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2011 and 2012, the Bureau is confident that Skaltsis was operating a Ponzi Scheme.”

Investors have told Foster's that the question they want answered is the question still being investigated: Where is the money?

”We certainly have been investigating it,” Boffetti said. “But, it wouldn't be proper to comment on anything we have found on where the money is.”

On Thursday morning, Skaltsis was arraigned in the Circuit Court in Rochester. He was not represented. According to Boffetti, Skaltsis applied for appointed council in court.

He was taken into custody by authorities and the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office has charged Skaltsis with 15 felony counts of theft by deception and four felony counts of theft by misapplication.

The court allowed Skaltsis to remain hospitalized in Concord at New Hampshire State Hospital, where he has been after attempting suicide by running a generator inside his vehicle on Oct. 12, 2012, according to the bureau.

The Wells, Maine police found Skaltsis, who was later transported to Southern Maine Medical Center for treatment.

Since then, Skaltsis has been held at the hospital in Concord, where he is now “on personal recognizance bail, with the condition that he not leave the hospital premises without the permission of his treatment team,” according to a public statement by the Attorney General's office.

If or when Skaltsis is discharged, his bail is immediately converted to $300,000 cash only. According to Boffetti, if this is not posted, Skaltsis will enter Strafford County House of Corrections and await his trial.

Skaltsis is to surrender his passport, sign a waiver of extradition and not have any contact with victims in this case. Skaltsis is also prohibited from engaging in any real estate transactions.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. at the Circuit Court in Rochester. Under state law, the maximum penalty for each Class A felony is 7½ to 15 years in state prison. With 19 charges, Skaltsis could face up to 285 years in prison.

Boffetti urges anyone with information about this case to contact the Dover Police Department and step forward with information they think would be helpful in this ongoing investigation.

Jeff Spill, deputy director of enforcement at the bureau, and Eric Forcier, bureau staff attorney, who are handling the case, emphasized the danger schemes like Skaltsis' pose to investors and what investors should look out for.

“'When someone offers investors an opportunity for financial returns that sounds too good to be true, it probably is,' Forcier said. Spill added that, ''When investors are seeking better returns in a down economy, it is often easy to miss the warning signs of a Ponzi scheme, such as high guaranteed returns when average returns are much lower than those being promised.”